Nude Dumplings, the gluten free pork and cabbage dumplings

These are called Nude Dumplings. They are nude because they are not wearing the wonton wrappers like the traditional dumplings would. For being a very modest cook, I thought of covering them with fig leaves (joking!), but I decided to go with a different material instead. There is a thin shear layer covering them to hold their shape, which makes these guys almost see through look.

Anyhow they are very simple to make dumplings and takes far less time than traditional kinds. And they taste awesome!
You can use any dumpling filling you like. I used ground pork, cabbage, and Asian chives — my favorite combination. Since they don’t wear any wonton wrappers, they can be great gluten free dish as long as you use naturally brewed soy sauce for seasoning.

Shall we start the today’s nude episode?

First, chop the cabbage into small pieces.

Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and toss well. Let it sit 10-15 minutes. This will extract the moisture and your cabbage will pretend dead.

Squeeze them out as hard as you can to show your love.

When you love someone, don’t you feel like squeezing them? Or is it just me being weird…?

Toss chopped cabbage with 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl and let it sit for 15 minutes to wilt. Squeeze out the cabbage with hands to remove as much moist as you can.

In a large mixing bowl, combine pork, cabbage, chives, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Mix all together and make into 1" balls.

Bring a pot of water to boil.

Pour cornstarch in a shallow bowl and roll the balls to coat evenly around. You want to coat them twice to hold their shape.

When the water comes to gentle boil, drop the balls a few at a time to cook, about 3 minutes, stirring with a spoon occasionally so that they don't stick to the bottom of the pot. They will float to the surface when they are fully cooked.

Comments

Brilliant! Thank you. I have been contemplating GF dumpling wrappers for the celiac members of our family, but this is even a better idea. We lived in China for 4 years and miss this tummy-warming meal. Very exciting.

Haha! I love your title/recipe name! I've never coated in corn starch to make dumplings like this. I have to make this. Especially the weather has been cold and this reminds me of comfort food. Looks delicious!!

I just made these for dinner and they taste fabulous! The dipping sauce sends it right over the top! We added some ginger to that and some chili oil for heat. I am curious how you got yours coated so well...our coating almost all came off.

Make sure your water is not a full vigorous boil, otherwise your dumplings will dance around up and down in the pot which cause their coating to come off. Gentle boil over medium-low to low heat will be sufficient.

Great idea to coat in cornflour! I am married to a dumpling-loving mainly-GF man, and I've never considered this! Brilliant idea, thank you so much for posting!
I bet these would be great in a broth, with some noodles and green veg - wonderful. And yet more beautiful pictures, Holly!

Hi Holly, It is just one of our favorite meals: easy, quick, and delicious. Versatile too. I make some variation of it, and my men can't have enough of it. Served with kimchi it flies out of the plate in seconds! :)

what a great idea for a less heavy sort of dumpling! for chinese new year last year, I decided to do away with dumpling skins too, but instead, I used cabbage as wrappers! go do a search for cabbage dumplings if you're interested. It was a lot lighter and pretty to boot, but of course took a fair bit of work as compared to yours, which I'm definitely going to try! they look delicious!

Hi, I have just stumbled on to your blog and I love it!! Thank you! I was inspired to buy a bunch of new products online, because of your recipes, and I came home last week to a huge, smelly, fantastic package and I couldn't be happier. My only problem is that I didn't notice until today that the dried anchovies needed to be frozen...I don't know who else to ask...do you think they will be okay (they were on the counter for 4 days)? I tend to air on the side of not waisting food so I want to use them, but do you think it is dangerous? I don't think so, but I don't know. I can't wait to cook your delicious recipes and the idea of ordering and waiting, well, it's torture! Help!

Hi Kathryn
The reason we keep the dried anchovies in freezer is so that they don't get damp in a humid climate, which tend to attract mold. You can definitely use the anchovies even if they were sitting on the counter for over 4 days. No worries!
It is advisable to keep some Korean dried goods, such as anchovies, chili flakes, seaweeds and etc, in the freezer for longer storage. I am glad that you found my blog. Please, let me know if you need any assistance.

Looks great! I just stumbled uppon this recipe on Pinterest and I know it's gluten free but what if I want to use something else instead of cornstarch? Will coconut flour work? Do you have any grain free suggestions?

Hi Natalie, I don't have any experience with coconut flour so I can't assure you if it would work. But I think as long as it has some binding capacity in them it should work. Also Potato flour will be another option.

Hello! Be very careful about the gluten-free thing here. I'm sure you all know that naturally fermented sauces are the best choice.
Just be careful too about people who are also wheat sensitive or intolerant. For those people, any wheat in any form is a painful experience that will not go unnoticed.
Some of us can't have soy either, but that's another thing altogether. :(
Eggs either.
Or peanuts.
Or anything with citric acid...like chilies and stuff. :'(

Hi!
This recipe looks great, I'm going to try them this weekend! I was wondering what you think about storage, can left over be frozen and steamed or boiled at a later date like other dumplings?
Thanks!

Hi BK
Simmer a few pieces of large dried anchovies and dried sea kelp in water for 10 minutes. Discard the anchovies and sea kelp. Season the broth with Korean soy sauce for soup or salt, and black pepper. You can always dress up with vegetables for a better taste.

Hi Holly :)
I'm new to this website, but I have to admit that it was love at first sight!!!
Your recipes are so easy to understand and to cook! I love them as does my mother loves the outcome <3 <3 ___<?
Thank You so much for everything!!!!
Best regards,
Nhung

Wow, these are tasty! I served them as an hors d'oeuvre on New Year's Eve and even the unadventurous eaters in the group enjoyed them. They freeze uncooked very well (freeze the balls on a cookie sheet first, then bag them) and are super good in soup too. Thank you for having gluten free recipes! Awesome!

Oh man these are so delicious!! I made a double batch with half ground pork and half ground chicken. Before I dropped them in boiling water, I slightly flattened the balls and then after they finished boiling I lightly fried on both sides. This recipe is a definite keeper!

This recipe is still a family favorite. Today was the first time I noticed the egg yolk in the pictures and not in the recipe, was it missed?
I found a really easy way to squeeze the liquid from the cabbage, I use my potato ricer and that makes it so much easier and quicker to make.
All in all I still make the recipe exactly as stated except I prefer a mixture of ground pork and ground chicken and sometimes when I'm feeling lazy I just lightly fry or bake the dumplings without the cornstarch step.